


Intersections

by TNG1976



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Jack Zimmermann Didn't Go to Samwell, M/M, Meet-Cute, NHL Player Jack Zimmermann, Non-Linear Narrative, POV Alternating, rated T for canon-compliant language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-24 19:02:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18168833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TNG1976/pseuds/TNG1976
Summary: This fic is what happens when I ask myself, "what if Jack didn't go to Samwell and instead ended up playing in Providence thanks to a trade more or less exactly like the one that took Mark Stone to the Vegas Golden Knights"?





	Intersections

**Author's Note:**

> All thanks to Ngozi for inventing these boys and fictional hockey franchises for us to play with. 
> 
> Any similarity to the events related to Mark Stone's February 2019 trade to my beloved Vegas Golden Knights is entirely intentional.
> 
> ETA: ahahahahaha I should have googled when the 2015 trade deadline was. Dates have been adjusted for the Sake of Accuracy.

******March 2015******

_**Providence Falconers** @PVDFalcs_

 

> The Providence Falconers have acquired Jack Zimmermann (@JLZ_1) at the trade deadline. Welcome to the Falconers family, Jack!

_**Providence Falconers** @PVDFalcs_

 

> In exchange, Ottawa gets Andreas "Andy" Olsson, prospect Frank Andersson, and a second-round pick in next year’s draft.

_**Jack Zimmermann** @JLZ_1_

 

> Looking forward to meeting my new @PVDFalcs coworkers and contributing to the team.

***

Eric was standing at the stove, stirring the filling for a strawberry-rhubarb pie and halfheartedly thinking about his psychology test the next day when two sets of footsteps hammered down the stairs of the Haus, around the corner, and slid to a stop next to him in the kitchen.

"BITTY!"

Suddenly there was a phone in his face, so close he couldn't actually focus on it.

"Good lord, Holster, I can't SEE whatever it is you're trying to show me. Give a person some space to breathe!"

"She did it, Bits. Georgia Martin is either a hockey genius or a complete crackpot. THE FALCS TRADED FOR ZIMMERMANN."

"Let me see that." Bitty took the phone and skimmed the article that Holster had been trying to show him.

"He's statistically the best guy on the team, right away" Ransom added. "He's a POINT PER GAME player on a team that he's been CARRYING ON HIS BACK for the last three..."

"Brah, think about what he'll be able to do on a line with St. Martin and Robinson. It's gonna be fuckin' EPIC."

"...seasons. What the fuck, Shits. Where did you come from?"

"I was asleep on the couch and then you two elephants came thundering through."

"Hey. We are not elephants. We are..." Ransom and Holster locked eyes. "D-MEN EXTRAORDINAIRE."

Bitty, however, barely heard any of this. Instead, he carefully studied the official NHL photo in the news article. "He seems like a good player, but he looks so sad."

Shitty shook his head slowly. "My favorite miniature pie baker, you would be sad, too, if you had the life story that Jack Laurent Zimmermann does."

 

******JULY 2011******

_**Ottawa Citizen** @OttawaCitizen_

 

> Free agent Jack Zimmermann and Sens agree to a four year deal. Read more in tomorrow's paper.

_**BadBobbyZ** @RLZ_41_

 

> .@AliZimms and I couldn't be prouder of our son Jack today. 

_**BadBobbyZ** @RLZ_41_

 

> (despite his questionable choice in teams)

***

«Really, Dad?» Jack put down his phone and looked at Bob, who leaned against the doorframe.

«Sorry, kiddo, I couldn't resist.»

Jack rolled his eyes and went back to sorting through a lifetime's worth of hockey t-shirts. 

«I know you wanted me to sign with the Habs. I'm sorry...» Jack trailed off, unsure of how to express the ambivalence he'd felt at the thought of playing for what he still thought of as his dad's team. He'd told his agent that he didn't even want to consider playing in either Montreal or Pittsburgh. 

Bob came to sit on the bed, preventing Jack from avoiding eye contact. «I want you to do what's right for YOU, Jack. You aren't me.»

Jack scoffed under his breath. «Tell that to the mirror.»

«OK, fine, but in every other way you're your mother's son. The two of you are thinkers; I just charge in without considering what might happen. You know what you want and you go after it; I let things come to me.»

«If you say so...»

It was at that moment that Jack picked up a Rimouski Oceanic shirt, worn thin and far too small for him, with the number 90 on the sleeve. A chill went down his spine.

«You don’t have to keep it.» His father’s hand landed tentatively on Jack’s shoulder. «But it’s also OK if you want to hold on to it.»

«I feel like I’ve been holding on to so much for so long, Papa. I think it’s time to let it go.»

 The shirt went on the top of the “donate” pile and Jack tried to hide the way his fingers trailed across the “Parson” on the back as he turned back to his dresser.

Bob noticed anyway.

 

 ******** March **2015******

_**National Hockey League**  @NHL_

 

> With the #zimmertrade, the @PVDFalcs may have the final piece they need for a real run at the Cup.

_**Eric Bittle** @omgcheckplease_

 

> Y'all, my teammates are all up in my face about this #zimmertrade business. Am I missing something?

_**Providence Falconers** @PVDFalcs_

 

> @JLZ_1 has landed! Come see him skate tomorrow morning at practice or tomorrow night at 7 pm against the Aeros!

***

The fact was that Bitty wasn't PARTICULARLY interested in the role that forced industrialization had played in the eventual failure of the Soviet Union. Shitty's implication that there was quite a story behind the Falconers' most recent acquisition was too much of a temptation, and Bitty spent the lecture googling "Jack Zimmermann" rather than paying attention to Dr. Johnson rambling about Marx and Lenin. 

And oh, was Jack Zimmermann more interesting than Marx and Lenin.

Bitty soon learned that Zimmermann was the only child of former NHL star Robert "Bad Bob" Zimmermann and actress/model Alicia Harris. Despite Bob and Alicia's attempts to protect their son, the media had been voracious, starting with the time that not-quite-one-year-old Jack pooped in the Stanley Cup. By the time Jack was six, there were news articles about his weight (too high) and his eyes (weird). At nine, a local newspaper declared "Younger Zimmermann will never have the career that his father did".

"God," Bitty whispered, "if they were that bad in the 90s, how horrible must celebrity kids have it today?"

There was relatively little information to be found about Jack between 1999 and 2007. Bitty picked up the thread of Jack's life after he was drafted by the Rimouski Oceanic and started playing on a line with a much smaller winger, an American named Kent Parson. By all accounts, the two of them were the second coming of Hockey Jesus. Article after article broke down the pros and cons of drafting one or the other. There was no question that one of them would be going first in the 2009 draft. More than one commentator proposed scenarios in which a team could somehow manipulate the system in such a way that one organization could conceivably get both Zimmermann and Parson.

"He showed those shitty critics, didn't he?"

The girl sitting next to him glared.

Bitty ignored her and made sure that his laptop was muted before clicking on a YouTube link to the 2009 Memorial Cup final. And oh, it was a sight to behold. He saw immediately what the hockey world had been so excited about - Zimmermann won nearly every faceoff. He would feed the puck seamlessly to Parson, who used his speed to evade defenders and get a shot on net nearly every time he had the puck in the offensive zone. When the opposing team put all of their defensive attention on Parson, he'd somehow manage to pass through their legs to Jack, who would more often than not manage a shot on goal. The video ended with the two of them standing side by side - one small and blond, the other tall and dark - holding the trophy in the air.

"But what HAPPENED?" Bitty mused under his breath. He kept scrolling until he came to an article from just a month later. 

"TOP PROSPECT LEAVES DRAFT"

Bitty's heart skipped a beat.

_Montreal, Quebec_

_Top prospect and projected first overall pick Jack Zimmermann was a no-show at the NHL draft this evening, leading his Rimouski linemate to be chosen first by the fledgling Las Vegas Aces franchise. No reason for Zimmermann's sudden withdrawal was given; representatives of the Zimmermann family have declined to comment and requested that the family's privacy be respected._

"What the fuck HAPPENED, though?"

Bitty realized that all of his classmates were packing up. He shoved his laptop into his bag and pulled out his phone to keep reading on the way back to the Haus. The headlines were ... not great.

"Zimmermann and Parson more than just linemates?"

"Coke-and-booze-fueled party scene"

"Parson better off without Zimmermann distraction"

"Zimmermann will never have the career that his father did"

Bitty was still reading when he got back to the Haus, where he found Shitty and Lardo sprawled together on the green couch. 

"I know why he looks sad now, Shitty."

 

******July 2011******

_**Alicia Zimmermann** @AliZimms_

 

>  Look who I get to spend the weekend with! [photo of Jack standing in front of a car with a tolerant look on his face]

_**BadBobbyZ** @RLZ_41  
_ _Replying to @AliZimms_  

 

> Wish I could be there, too. But I guess someone's got to hold down the fort at home.

***

Jack knew he was being difficult. He really did. To their credit, neither Gwen (the real estate agent with the patience of a saint) nor his mother was giving in to his childish tantrum.

"Ugh. Why does this have to be so HARD?" Jack tossed the sheaf of papers onto the table in the real estate office's conference room and laid his head on top of it. "It's not like I'm going to be spending much time there anyway, once the season starts."

"You could still billet, honey. Dad talked to the Martineaus last night and they'd be happy to have you stay with them for a bit. Just until you're settled in."

Jack raised his head just enough to look at her. "Mom. I am almost twenty-one years old. I do not need another set of PARENTS. You and Dad are more than enough for any one person to handle." He let his head drop back onto the table with a dull thud, and Alicia petted his hair.

Gwen cocked her head to the side and looked off into the distance. "Let's go over your wish list again. You want at least two bedrooms and two baths."

"So my parents have a place to stay when they come visit."

"You'd like to be able to walk or bike to practice and games."

"Ideally, yeah."

"Honey," Alicia chimed in gently, "you know that means more media attention, right?"

"I just want to have the option, Maman."

"OK then."

"You'd like a quiet area."

"With normal people, families. I'm not interested in going to bars or concerts. I just want to play hockey and come home and ..." Jack struggled to articulate to this stranger the life he envisioned for himself in Ottawa. "I just want to live my life."

"I think we need to stop looking at apartments and start looking at houses. It'll be more space than you strictly need, but there are several neighborhoods relatively close to the Sensplex that I think would fit the bill."

***

Half an hour later, Jack stood in the living area of a three-bedroom, two-bath house a ten-minute walk from the Senators' arena. The minute Gwen had turned her car onto the quiet residential street, he had felt like a missing puzzle piece had fallen into place. This was what he had been craving but not able to explain - the normalcy that he'd never yet experienced. The house was modest, not really distinguishable from any of the others on the street. There were abandoned bikes in the driveway next door and the sounds of children playing somewhere out of sight. "Do any of the other players live near here?"

"No," Gwen replied. "Most of the young guys live downtown, and the older ones are in newer, more private communities."

"What do you think they'll make of a professional athlete moving in?"

Jack appreciated that Gwen appeared to give his question some real thought. "I honestly don't know."

 

******March 2015******

_**Eric R. Bittle** @OMGCheckPlease_

> OK, let's see what all the @JLZ_1 hubub is about.

_**Señor Knight, Esquire** @BSKnight  
_ _Replying to @OMGCheckPlease_

>  You are in for a TREAT, my friend.

_**Providence Falconers** @PVDFalcs_

> Falcs beat the Aeros 4-2; @JLZ_1 has two assists and a goal without ever practicing with the team.

***

"All eyes are on the Dunkin' Donuts Center tonight as Jack Zimmermann, acquired in a trade with the Ottawa Senators yesterday, takes the ice in Falconers Blue for the first time."

"Blah blah blah, shut up ya stuffed shirt, let's get to the hockey!" Shitty bellowed.

"That's right, Ed," the other commentator continued, almost as if they couldn't hear a stoned college senior yelling at them from 40 miles away. "We've now learned that Zimmermann's gear got held up in customs and he wasn't able to take morning practice with the team because - can you believe it - he didn't have his skates."

"You'd think he would have carried them on, wouldn't you?"

"Or used some of his family's money to charter a flight rather than flying commercial."

Bitty shook his head; all of the reading he'd done about Zimmermann in the last 24 hours had given him nothing but sympathy for the sad-eyed man. "I wish they'd leave him alone. He just wants to play hockey."

Lardo cocked an eyebrow and looked at Bitty meaningfully.

Ransom and Holster, on the other hand, pounced.

"Bitty. Dost thou have a bit of a crush on a hockey player?" Holster asked. 

"A sad-eyed, recently relocated, nearby CANADIAN hockey player?" added Ransom.

"I bet he's lonely, Bitty. And we all know a lonely Canadian hockey player is a TERRIBLE thing to waste."

"Aw, babe," Ransom said, "you know I can never be lonely when you're nearby..."

"You two are ridiculous. Can we PLEASE just watch the game?" Bitty pulled up a kitchen chair next to the hideous green couch and cracked open a beer.

***

By the middle of the second period, Bitty had almost forgotten about Jack Zimmermann's tragic history and was rapidly developing quite a crush on his hockey prowess.

"Shitty! Did you see that? He just... it was like the Aeros' defender wasn't even THERE!"

"He didn't score, brah. That was barely even a shot on goal."

"Hey! Swanson had to work for it!"

"Chowder, my sweet goalie child, he didn't have to move his feet."

Chowder grumbled about Shitty not being brave enough to get in the crease, and Bitty continued, undeterred. "I don't CARE. I have to figure out how he DOES that. He's like twice my size but he's still dodging their defense rather than getting hit!"

"We're going back to late-night checking practice aren't we?"

"We just might be, Shitty."

***

At the end of the game, Zimmermann was chosen as the first star and gave an on-ice post-game interview.

"His smile almost cancels out his sad eyes," Bitty observed as he headed up the stairs to his room.

 

******JULY 2011******

_**Claude Martineau @CMartsHockey** _

 

> Welcome to town, Jack. [photo of jack Zimmermann with the Martineau family]

**_Ottawa Senators @Sens  
_ ** _Replying to @CMartsHockey_

 

> You wanna help us get the kid on Twitter, Clo?

_**Claude Martineau @CMartsHockey  
** _ _Replying to @Sens_

 

> I think he might be a lost cause. [photo of Jack Zimmermann looking confusedly at a smart phone]

***

Three weeks after signing the papers on the house in Kanata, Jack returned with both of his parents in tow. Bob stood in the living room of Jack's house and smiled. «You did well, Jack. This place suits you.»

«Thanks, Dad. It just... it feels right.»

«I can tell.»

"OK, boys, we have a mission! This house needs furniture!" 

"Ali, you interrupted my touching moment with my son!" Bob grabbed Jack by the shoulders and gave him an enthusiastic noogie. Jack struggled halfheartedly before giving in and pointing out,

"You're kinda killing the sentiment, there, Dad."

"What was that? I couldn't hear you! Why is your face in my armpit?"

Alicia just rolled her eyes and walked out the front door.

***

Eight hours later, Jack had spent a considerable amount of money at Ikea and the nearby Wal*Mart, but by the end of the next day his house would be fully furnished. All three Zimmermanns sat in camp chairs on Jack's back patio, paper plates balanced on their laps and wine glasses on the concrete next to them.

"Alicia Harris Zimmermann, if I hadn't already married you I'd be proposing over how good this steak is."

"Thank your son; he's the one who insisted on having home-cooked meal for the first evening at his new house."

"Honestly, I mostly thought Dad needed a project to do while you and I were at Ikea and I figured putting the grill together would keep him out of our hair for long enough..."

All three of them were still laughing when a pair of blonde children peeked around the slightly-open gate. Jack noticed them first but didn't let on, either to his parents or to the small invaders.

"I TOLD you it was him!" the taller of the two said.

"You did NOT," argued the other. "You said Tommy's aunt Helen said that somebody from the Senators was moving in and you also always say that Tommy's a giant liar so why should I believe anything that you say that Tommy says..." It was at this point that they realized they'd been spotted and both froze in place.

"Hi," said Jack. "I'm your new neighbor, Jack. What are your names?"

The shorter of the two recovered first. "I'm Charles," he said, extending his hand and giving Jack's an admirably firm shake. "And this is Claire."

"We live next door," Claire added. 

"Well, Charles and Claire. It's nice to meet you. I just moved in today so I haven't had a chance to get to know anybody in the neighborhood yet. Oh! These are my parents; they're helping me get settled. My dad Bob, and my mom Alicia." Bob and Alicia stood and greeted the kids as well.

"Is it true?" Claire asked. "Do you work for the Senators?"

"In this case, I'm afraid that Tommy and his aunt Helen are correct. I do work for the Senators."

"Oh cool! We can't wait until the season starts! Dad says that they're either going to be really great or a total train-wreck this year depending on what happens..."

All three adults made eye contact. 

Charles continued. "... with this new guy they just signed who was really great in juniors and then something happened and he didn't get drafted..."

Bob barely repressed a laugh.

"... and Dad says he was doing drugs but I don't believe it because you can't do drugs and play hockey, that's what my coach says and I believe him..."

"Charles."

"...so anyway, do you think you can get us tickets Jack who works for the Senators?"

"CHARLES."

"WHAT CLAIRE I was just talking to our new neighbor! Tommy was right! He does work for the Senators!"

"Charles. Do you remember Dad telling us the NAME of the new player that the Senators signed?"

"Ugh, yes, of course I do. It was Jack..."

Charles looked from his sister to Jack, to Bob and Alicia, and back to his sister again.

"Jack Zimmermann."

Jack waved.

"Oh. My. God."

**Author's Note:**

> I have the first four chapters of this partially sketched out but nothing more than the first chapter written. I make no promises that this won't be one of a zillion other unfinished AUs floating around this site. SorryNotSorry.


End file.
